1. Field of the Invention
The subject matter of the present invention relates to sliding shoe sorters and methods of using those sorters. Embodiments of the present invention can be utilized to sort any type of item regardless of its composition, size, container or shape. Novel structures and steps for monitoring or tracking the items as well as actually sorting the items are within the ambit of the current invention, e.g., a plurality or pluralities of shoes, rods, shafts, pushers or the like are interposed between the sorter""s conveyor""s lateral edges. Importantly, the shoe can be anything which moves about the conveyor that is capable of pushing items toward the edge of the conveyor.
One or more pluralities of the shoes which have been interposed between the conveyor""s lateral edges can be ordered and advanced in lines. Representative lines can include mechanical, electromechanical, electrical, electronic or electrical field tracks. Controllers activate or deactivate the diverters which direct the sliding shoes toward one or more receivers, i.e., mechanical, electromechanical, electrical, electronic or electrical field lines. Diversion of the shoes can result in the egressing of an item away from the conveyer. The receivers can be provided with rediverters to redirect the shoes toward the interposed sliding shoes.
Items advanced by the conveyor may have a code placed about them. Types of coding can include radio frequency identification, bar coding, color coding or light coding. After a code has been placed about the item to be sorted, a paradigm or paradigms responsive to the code can be created to orchestrate activation or deactivation of the diverters and/or the rediverters. The requisite logic, sensors and controllers necessary to control the diverters can be incorporated into the various paradigms. As a result, dependent upon the items to be sorted, the nature and scope of paradigms operable in accordance with the present invention is virtually unlimited.
Unlike the prior art, embodiments of the present invention interpose one or two pluralities of shoes between the receivers. When a single plurality of shoes is interposed, the diverter can direct shoes toward either the left receiver or the right receiver or both which enables two distinct rows of items to be advanced and sorted. Within the scope of this embodiment, alternating or simultaneous diversion of the shoes toward either receiver can be accomplished. And in accordance with another feature of the present invention, along with the conventional front loading of the conveyor associated with sliding shoe sorters, items can be laterally ingressed directly onto the conveyor, i.e., items can be induced onto the conveyor at two or more locations.
2. Description of the Previous Art
a) U.S. Pat. No. 5,217,105-Sapp, et. al., also owned by the current assignee of the present invention enables a novel switching system for sorters. The ""105 Patent further discloses a conveying mechanism incorporating the traditional teachings for tracks, crossovers and pushers. Sapp, et. al, is silent regarding the use of a medially interposed primary track or tracks.
b) U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,715-Sapp owned by the current assignee of the present invention also enables a novel switching system for sorters. And in a vein similar to U.S. Pat. No. 5,217,105, the ""715 Patent teaches what has been the traditional conveying mechanism for conveyors, including the tracks, crossovers and pushers. As with the ""105 Patent, this Patent is also silent with respect to the use of an interposed primary track or tracks.
Typically, the currently available sliding shoe sorters require justification of the majority of shoes in a single row to either the right or left of sorter""s center. Specifically, the prior art teaches the justification of shoes near either the right or left border of the sorter""s conveyor bed. In operation, shoes which have been justified to the right will slide leftward to divert goods off of the left side of the conveyor slats or tubes. Conversely, shoes justified to the left will slide rightward to divert goods off the right side of the conveyor slats, tubes, etcetera, making up the conveyor bed.
Operation of prior art sliding shoe sorters mandates front end loading of the sorter. Cases to be sorted are bar coded, then singulated and tracked by currently available bar code sensors operable, in conjunction, with their respective computer programs. After the cases are front loaded in single file onto the sliding shoe sorter, dedicated computer programs activate select shoes to crossover from one side of the conveyor to the opposite side of the conveyor bed. Thus, dependent upon the carton""s bar code, the computer program will activate shoes to divert the case to the appropriate spur conveyor, chute or other destination.
It has been determined that when operating in the most optimal environment and upon the most appropriately sized and spaced cases, physical characteristics of prior art sorters limit their capacity to about 200 diverted cases per minute. Practice of either the device or method embodiments or both of the present invention can virtually double the number of cartons per minute which can be sorted. Moreover, since less tangible components are required, it is believed that the unique structure and steps of the present invention will reduce the expense associated in construction and/or maintenance of sorting systems while concurrently increasing the volume of items which can be sorted.
As enabled in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,217,705 and 5,333,715, those skilled the art will readily recognize some of the types of currently available bases for supporting the sorter as well as selected drives for advancing the conveyor""s slats and shoes. Generally, the conveyors of the present invention advance in a circularly continuous pathway. A plurality of or pluralities of shoes, rods, shafts, pushers or the like which can be diverted are interposed between the sorter""s conveyor""s lateral edges. And as previously set forth, shoes can be orderly interposed mechanically, electromechanically, electrically, electronically or in linear electrical fields. Further, those skilled in the art recognize that the shoes or pushers are not limited to any particular configuration, but can include any device capable moving about the conveyor and pushing the item to be sorted.
Within the scope of the present invention, embodiments can monitor items to be sorted and can signal controllers to activate or deactivate the diverters and rediverters. Any kind of controller capable of activating or deactivating the diverters and rediverters can be incorporated into the present invention. Activation of the diverters directs the shoes toward one or more receivers which may cause an item to egress from the conveyor. Conversely, activation of the receiver""s rediverter will redirect the shoes toward the interposed plurality. This novel feature allows shoes to perform more than one sort per conveying cycle.
In accordance with the present invention, one or more diverters and one or more rediverters can be utilized to direct or redirect the shoes. Diverters and rediverters can include mechanical, electronic, electrical or electromechanical switches, electrical fields, or any other structure which can cause a shoe or shoes to be directed from the interposed plurality toward a receiver, or from a receiver toward the interposed plurality of shoes.
According to any of the plethora of possible paradigms, direction and timing of the diversion of the shoe or shoes is predetermined. Operable paradigms can include sensors, controllers and their respective logics, as well as computer programs utilized, in association, with bar coding, color coding, light coding, radio frequency identification coding, or any combinations thereof. However, paradigms can be something as simple as human activation of the shoes dependent upon color coding of the items to be sorted.
Unlike currently available sliding shoe sorters, certain embodiments of the present invention interpose or medially interpose one or two pluralities of shoes or the like between the lateral edges of the conveyor, or between receivers. Select configurations allow the diverter to direct shoes toward a left or right receiver or both while other configurations provide for diversion of shoes from a first plurality of shoes toward a first receiver and from a second plurality of shoes toward a second receiver. Importantly, bidirectional diversion toward either side of the sorter increases the volume of items which can be sorted, since these particular configurations create the ability to advance two distinct lines of items to be sorted rather than the traditional single file sortation mandated by the prior sliding shoe sorters. Moreover, as previously submitted, either the first or the second receiver or both can be supplied with rediverters to redirect the shoes toward their respective interposed pluralities. And dependent upon the item to be egressed, the shoes can be diverted singularly or in series.
Traditional sliding shoe sorters have been consigned to monitoring the bar coded items to be sorted, before they are front end loaded onto the conveyor. The present invention""s controllers and predetermined logics can utilize front end monitoring of the codes for activation or deactivation of the shoes. However, whether or not the present sorter and its methods of use are utilized, in combination, with front end sensors, it has unexpectedly been determined that locating one or more tracking sensors proximate to conveyor enhances the sliding shoe sorter""s monitoring efficiencies as well as the sorter""s sorting capacity. Thus, within the scope of the present invention, lateral ingress of items onto the conveyor is possible.
An object of the present invention is to increase the cost effectiveness of currently available sliding shoe sorters by incorporating the inventions disclosed herein in the structures and methods of previously existing sliding shoe slot sorters.
It is another object of the present invention to effectively double the volume of items which can be sorted over the volumes that can be sorted by currently available sliding shoe sorters.
Still another object of the present invention is reduce maintenance costs associated with sliding shoe sorters by reducing the sortation equipment components required.
Yet another object of the present invention is to reduce noise attributed to sliding shoe sorters through reducing the sortation equipment components required.
It is yet another object of the present invention to more cost effectively manage power consumption of sliding shoe sorters through reducing the sortation equipment components required.
Still another object of the present invention is to reduce engineering time attributed to designing and configuring sliding shoe slot sorters through reducing the sortation equipment components required.
Yet another object of the present invention is to reduce manufacturing and set up time associated with sliding shoe slot sorters through reducing the sortation equipment components required.
It is yet another object of the present invention to improve efficiencies of sliding shoe sorters.
One embodiment of the present invention can be described as a sorter, comprising: a base; a conveyor having a first edge and a second edge; a drive; a plurality of shoes medially interposed between the first and second edges; a diverter; a receiver proximate to one of the edges; and a controller.
Another embodiment of the present invention can be described as a sorter, comprising: a base; a conveyor having a first edge and a second edge; a drive; a first receiver proximate to the first edge; a second receiver proximate to the second edge; a plurality of shoes interposed between the first receiver and the second receiver; a diverter; and a controller.
In another embodiment, the present invention can be described as a sorter, comprising: a base; a conveyor having a first and a second edge; a drive; a plurality of shoes positioned near the first edge; a receiver positioned near the second edge; a diverter; a lateral ingress; and a controller.
Yet another embodiment, of the present invention, can be described as a sorter, comprising: a base; a conveyor having a first edge and a second edge; a drive; a first receiver near the first edge and a second receiver near the second edge; a first plurality of shoes interposed between the first receiver and the second receiver outlining a first path; a second plurality of shoes positioned between the first plurality of shoes and the second receiver outlining a second path; a first diverter and a second diverter; and a first controller and a second controller.
Yet still another embodiment, of the present invention, can be described as a method of sorting a plurality of items, comprising the steps of: interposing and medially ordering a plurality of shoes between a first and a second edge of a conveyor; frontally transferring one or more of the items to be sorted to said conveyor; advancing one or more of items, the conveyor and the shoes; monitoring one or more of the items to be sorted; and activating a diverter to direct one or more of the shoes toward a receiver.
In another embodiment, the present invention can be described as a method of sorting a plurality of items, comprising the steps of: ordering a plurality of shoes between a first receiver and a second receiver; transferring one or more items to be sorted to a conveyor; advancing one or more of the items, the conveyor and the shoes; monitoring one or more of the items to be sorted; and activating a diverter to cause one or more of the shoes to be directed to either the first receiver or the second receiver or both.
In yet another embodiment, the present invention can be described as a method of sorting a plurality of items, comprising the steps of: ordering a plurality of shoes proximate a first edge of a conveyor and a receiver proximate to a second edge of said conveyor; frontally transferring one or more of the items to be sorted to said conveyor; advancing one or more of the items, the conveyor and the shoes; ingressing laterally one or more of the items to be sorted onto said conveyor; monitoring one or more of the items to be sorted; and activating a diverter to cause one or more of the shoes to be directed toward the receiver.
In still another embodiment, the present invention can be described as a method of sorting a plurality of items, comprising the steps of: ordering a first plurality of shoes and a second plurality of shoes between a first receiver and a second receiver; transferring one or more of the items to be sorted to a conveyor; advancing one or more of the items, the conveyor and the shoes; monitoring one or more of the items to be sorted; and activating a first diverter to cause one or more of the shoes to be directed toward the first receiver or a second diverter to cause one or more of the shoes to be directed toward the second receiver or both.
It is the novel and unique interaction of these simple elements and steps that creates the sliding shoe sorters and the methods of using the sorters, within the ambit of the present invention. Pursuant to Title 35 of the United States Code, descriptions of preferred embodiments follow. However, it is to be understood that the best mode descriptions do not limit the scope of the present invention. The breadth of the present invention is identified in the claims appended hereto.